Surviving the Challenges of the First Year

What do you keep, what do you give away and what do you do with the rest?

If you can, let time pass and healing begin before you make any decisions about your child’s belongings. Early on, this task can be emotionally overwhelming. Your grief colors everything now, including your judgment.

An item that might seem important to keep in the early days of your loss may end up being less important a little further down the road, and something insignificant that you might easily have overlooked, may one day seem priceless to you. Box it up until you are stronger and some equilibrium has been attained. Eventually you will find a ‘home’ for all that belonged to your child. It may be that you want to keep everything or very little. The real treasures that defined your child’s life cannot be boxed up, put on a shelf or given away. They are placed safely in your heart.